2014 Lambing
Lambing started President's Day with a set of triplets. Good thing I finished building our permananet lambing pens (4) in an unused part of our large barn. The triplets are strong and were moved to ...
Forum Discussion
Let me describe what is going on in the video.
About 20 pregnant ewes were turned into the field to graze. A few hours before this video was taken one of the ewes delivered twins. Eve and I went to gather all of these sheep back to the barnyard for the night. When Eve and I came into the field we could see the ewe & lambs but not the other ewes. I sent Eve knowing she would turn in behind the ewe & lambs. When she started to turn in I stopped her and told her to "look". She then looked farther down the field for the other sheep; but I'm not sure she could see them. We train our dogs to go look for sheep they cannot see when we tell them to "look". Once she leaves our sight she is on her own to bring the other ewes. Based upon where the sheep came from they were in an adjacent field, not in the one where I was standing. Once the other sheep got to the ewe & lambs, one of the lambs got run over (poor baby). I stopped Eve. The pregnant ewes ran towards the gate that leads out of the field behind me drawing one of the lambs. The other lamb (likely the one that got run over) did not move so mom stayed with that lamb. I needed Eve to stay there and not push forward towards the lamb and ewe; we would call this putting pressure on the sheep. When a dog puts too much pressure on a ewe with lambs the ewe will turn and possibly charge the dog to protect her lambs. I needed Eve to be there to put a little pressure on the ewe to make her want to move (and draw her lamb to come with her) but not put too much pressure on the ewe to make her turn on Eve. Once moving, I needed Eve to keep some pressure on the ewe and lamb to keep moving but not too much to make the ewe turn. Once the ewe and lamb caught up with the other lamb, the lambs were tired and it was too hard for Eve to put the right amount of pressure on the ewe and lambs to get them to move (I could see Eve was stressing by her sniffing the ground instead of being focused upon the ewe & lambs). I stopped filming and carried the lambs drawing the ewe to the barnyard with Eve following the ewe.
Good job Eve!
About 20 pregnant ewes were turned into the field to graze. A few hours before this video was taken one of the ewes delivered twins. Eve and I went to gather all of these sheep back to the barnyard for the night. When Eve and I came into the field we could see the ewe & lambs but not the other ewes. I sent Eve knowing she would turn in behind the ewe & lambs. When she started to turn in I stopped her and told her to "look". She then looked farther down the field for the other sheep; but I'm not sure she could see them. We train our dogs to go look for sheep they cannot see when we tell them to "look". Once she leaves our sight she is on her own to bring the other ewes. Based upon where the sheep came from they were in an adjacent field, not in the one where I was standing. Once the other sheep got to the ewe & lambs, one of the lambs got run over (poor baby). I stopped Eve. The pregnant ewes ran towards the gate that leads out of the field behind me drawing one of the lambs. The other lamb (likely the one that got run over) did not move so mom stayed with that lamb. I needed Eve to stay there and not push forward towards the lamb and ewe; we would call this putting pressure on the sheep. When a dog puts too much pressure on a ewe with lambs the ewe will turn and possibly charge the dog to protect her lambs. I needed Eve to be there to put a little pressure on the ewe to make her want to move (and draw her lamb to come with her) but not put too much pressure on the ewe to make her turn on Eve. Once moving, I needed Eve to keep some pressure on the ewe and lamb to keep moving but not too much to make the ewe turn. Once the ewe and lamb caught up with the other lamb, the lambs were tired and it was too hard for Eve to put the right amount of pressure on the ewe and lambs to get them to move (I could see Eve was stressing by her sniffing the ground instead of being focused upon the ewe & lambs). I stopped filming and carried the lambs drawing the ewe to the barnyard with Eve following the ewe.
Good job Eve!
